I must admit, I was expecting The Iron Lady (released Dec 26) to be a hatchet job on its subject, former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Mrs Thatcher was, after all, a hugely polarising figure and it would be fair to say that the culture industry's residual impression of her is one of an aloof, autocratic leader.
The surprise here is that this is a very human and very affectionate portrayal of an intense woman whose armour was thick and who went to considerable lengths to project strength during a time of great change and uncertainty.
The Iron Lady begins with Mrs Thatcher in old age. She is frail and vulnerable, having been has been weakened physically and mentally by strokes. She forgets recent events and remembers long ago events, such as the IRA bombings, which are contrasted with the London bombings in 2005 when the film is set.
As she slowly clears out the clothes of her late husband, Denis, the film introduces a series of these flashbacks to create the context for her triumphs and ultimately her downfall. The staring down of the militant trade union movement, her strength against the IRA terrorists, her determination during the Falkland War, her courage in her leadership of the Conservative Party and her country, and her obstinacy in pursuing a poll tax all invite the viewer to contrast the Iron Lady of Thatcher's reign with the frail old lady of the present.
Jim Broadbent is a humorous and supportive Denis Thatcher. His presence is a trick of Margaret Thatcher's mind brought about by the wardrobe clearing. I found that conjuring of a dead Denis distracting. If the point was to show a deteriorating mental state, it laboured the point.
I thought a strength of this film was that it sought to break down the brittle views people have of Mrs Thatcher and look at her (but not so much her achievements) in a fresh way.
I didn’t expect that for someone universally condemned by the Left, and even distanced by her own party, she was treated so humanly and fairly.
Meryl Streep's Margaret Thatcher is utterly convincing. Her Thatcher, as prime minister, is the Thatcher I recall and admired. Streep has the facial expressions, the voice, the energy and the look.
Her elderly Thatcher reminded me of my own, now passed away, mother as her health deteriorated after a series of strokes.
The elderly Margaret Thatcher evokes a sympathy that many will not expect to feel. I'm just not sure that Mrs T would approve but I did.
Judith Collins is Minister of Justice
Comments and questions
Thanks for the review Judith.
I am very pleased to read the film isn't the hatchet job for Guardian readers I had been expecting and look forward to seeing it.
I saw the film last night & it was ok. They did Maggie justice but they spent too much time looking a old Maggie with dementia rather than her accomplishments as PM. They skipped over the coal miners/union thing thing by mentioning it as a tiny TV news report. Spent a little more time on the cold war/Berlin wall, but not much. Must've spent half the film with Maggie having dementia hallucinogenic conversations with her husband Dennis. It could've been done a lot better. They need to do a good one on the other political hero of the 80's Ronnie Reagan.
Portraying Margaret Thatcher as demented is exactly how I remember the 1980s.
Awww, poor anonymous is upset mean old Thatcher destroyed his beloved Unions, & helped destroy his beloved communist Soviet Union. Awww, poor anonymous. I hear North Korea would welcome people like you with open arms anonymous.
This film was wafer thin in plot & facts, a mixture of odd newsreels and titbits of Thatchers most memorable sayings & actions. Streep gave a satisfactory performance but was let down by a lousy script, the Thatcher era would be a trilogy if Peter jackson decided to do it justice.
This was a great movie that did a lot to humanise PM Thatcher. La Streep and Jim Broadbent were utterly convincing though let down by poor direction, overly relied upon use of cinematic devices and a script that was not lacklustre, but certainly didn't have much lustre....
Typical right wing neo fascist comment. Please try for perspective, I know it's hard and it's a big word, but you do read NBR, so you should be able to obtain a definition.
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